Bulletin Keeps Suspects` Faces Fresh In Mind Of Police Officers

FORT LAUDERDALE — They`re dangerous and on the loose. But their numbers are dwindling.

As the names and faces of the ``Five Most Wanted`` circulate at the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, the suspects are being arrested one by one.

Three of the men featured on the current ``Five Most Wanted`` list are now behind bars, two of them picked up just last week. The bulletin, published twice since its inception last August, is still in the development stages. But some officers said that the recent arrests could be partly attributed to it.

``What it really does is allow us to identify the individuals that we are most actively seeking, the ones that present the greatest danger to the community by being at large,`` said Capt. Al Ortenzo, commander of the detective bureau. ``It has helped significantly in communicating the information around the department.``

The brainchild of Patrolman Jerry Pfieffer, the list was created as a communication tool among the different divisions in the Police Department. Every officer is urged to submit candidates for the list and include the suspect`s photo, aliases, age, charges, last known address, hangouts, associates, a physical description and a descripion of his vehicle.

``The detectives and patrol officers alike are readily coming up with these people,`` Ortenzo said. ``They love it. They love the idea of being pointed in the right direction. And once they`ve been pointed in that direction, they go at it.``

Arrested last week were Lawrence Mann, 33, of Fort Lauderdale, charged with first-degree murder in the death of an insurance agent in June 1985, and Gary Victor Jackson, 21, wanted in connection with the rape and kidnapping of a 19- year-old girl last November. William Kenneth Andrews, 21, an armed-robbery suspect, was arrested Dec. 27.

The ``most wanted`` suspects are pictured on single bulletins distributed around the police station. The list also was reproduced in Crimeweek, the department`s weekly in-house newsletter, and still more copies were sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Tallahassee for its Criminal Activity Bulletin.

``The more often we get their names and faces in front of the officers, the more likely it is they`ll see them,`` said Detective R.C. White, who compiles the list in the department`s crime analysis unit.

At that point, the arresting officer receives a certificate of appreciation. The arrest is reported in the daily and weekly newsletters, emphasizing that the officer has apprehended one of the most wanted.

Police are still looking for two high-priority suspects. Robert Bowman, 62, of Boynton Beach is wanted on charges of lewd and lascivious assault in the presence of a child, police said. Dennis Michael Sochor, believed to be in his 30s, has three outstanding warrants for violating probation, grand theft and sexual battery, according to the flier. Sochor`s whereabouts were last known in 1982.

After all that time, the suspect has not been lost in the shuffle, his face has not faded from memory.